Saturday, December 17, 2016

"It's Only ..."

“... 100 words.” The voice seems to float to me across a great gulf. “Then freedom.”

I look at the flames ringing my desk. The sores on my skin. The squamous squirming within them.

I start to write, only occasionally diverted by the seething hellscape.

At 25 words, I notice my title is a consonantal garble. I fix it. At 57 words, I see that my protagonist is speaking in Yiddish. I fix it. At 99 words, I sigh, close my eyes—

—and open them to a blank page.

But that’s fine, right? I can fix it. It’s only ...



Postscript: If the above widget is giving you trouble, visit ISLF's Soundcloud page.

17 comments:

Paula Gail Benson said...

Loren, you have captured the writer's plight with such eloquence and economy! Most impressive!

Patrick N. said...

Wow!

With so few words you have painted an extraordinary landscape!

Manuel Royal said...

"It's Only ..." is excellent. I wonder -- would it be possible to put the audio on a loop?

Your prefacing vignette is especially poignant, this historic year, as we seek distractions before the coming Terror.

Elizabeth Gaucher said...

Well done!

TKM said...

Brilliant

Unknown said...

I am not alone it seems!

Manuel Royal said...

Great variety in the stories!

Note: the link for my piece ("Scrawled on Memo Line ...") doesn't work. But the link for the general blog (Donnetown Today, etc.) does.

Loren Eaton said...

Sorry, Manuel, I messed that up. Should be fixed now.

Phil W said...

A writerly Sisyphus. Good on you, sir.

Loren Eaton said...

Paula,

Thank you! I think the difficulty of composition is something we can all empathize with.

Loren Eaton said...

Patrick,

You're too kind, sir.

Loren Eaton said...

Manuel,

I could futz about with my editing software a bit and see if I could get it to loop. Lemmee see if I get a few minutes free next week.

I'm glad you like the post intro. Every year I riff on a loose theme, just something to kick my mind over into stream-of-consciousness creativity. This year's bit didn't really have anything to do with the American election (if that's what you're referencing). If anything, the death of Castro got me thinking along those lines.

Loren Eaton said...

Elizabeth,

Many thanks!

Loren Eaton said...

TKM,

Aw shucks ...

Loren Eaton said...

Michael,

You aren't at all.

Loren Eaton said...

Phil,

I've mulled over Psalm 78:33 for years. I know it's describing a historical situation, but I can't imagine a worse fate than having all of your efforts consumed in futility, in a slow, wasting worthlessness.

Rhonda Parrish said...

*snort laugh* That is Hell indeed. Good job!